I’ve prayed the impossible prayer in my own life, and I’ve seen God move in situations where there seemed to be no hope. I believe that when we are walking in God’s will and serving God in His kingdom, we can ask for the impossible and expect the impossible when it aligns with His plans and purposes.
Paul said that not only is death defeated, but it will also be destroyed. There will come a time (in a place where there is no time) when death will no longer exist. Death came into existence through the sin of Adam, but through Jesus Christ, life has been given as a gift to all who believe in Him and in the power of His sacrifice on the cross.
We call the Friday following Thanksgiving “Black Friday” because retailers open their doors with big sales intended to lure in Christmas shoppers. These sales are a major source of annual income for retailers, and can be the difference between getting their finances in the black (meaning they made a profit for the year), or ending the year in the red (having a net loss). However, the first black Friday was when Jesus died on the cross at noon and the sun refused to shine. God’s gift was our gain, and because of the red that Jesus bled on that Friday, we can end our lives in the black, in the positive rather than the negative. Jesus paid our debt with His own blood and ransomed us from sin.
In short, when Jesus told Jairus “Do not fear; only believe,” Jesus was saying a mouthful: Don’t despair, only believe. Don’t give up, only believe. Don’t quit, don’t stop, don’t worry, don’t throw in the towel … ONLY BELIEVE because Jesus is on the way with authority over death, hell, and the grave! Only believe, because all things are possible in the name of Jesus!
And with that, sometime between 3 and 4 p.m. on a Friday, Jesus won the victory over sin. He was the perfect sacrifice, the Lamb of God without spot or blemish who takes away the sins of the world. But Jesus did not come only to defeat sin, He also came to defeat death. To do this, Jesus had to fully experience death, so the spirit of Jesus descended into Hades, and into the realm of the righteous dead to lead captivity captive.
